TIX

I have withdrawn my support and assets from this project. There is a strong possibility for my work to resurface with a 7800 guise 🤞

With this engine, a "Mr Driller" clone isn't far off !

Sprite sheet (v4) with added "crashed" animation, it's a work in progress, I have to see it in game..

Sad but true 🙄

You are right, I meant every frame in the latest sheet to be considered as changed/edited ! I'm not an English speaker.. This causes some trouble, as the reflection on the visor is not flipped.. I'll take a look. It was just a random idea.

Maybe it's an illusion, but when you start to run (from a standing position), it feels "heavier".. . . anyway, moving along here is the latest (v3) sprite sheet, almost everything have been tweaked/improved, especially the running sequences. I have also added two more sets: the stranded astronaut, just in case (12), a full rotation animation (13), so that you can pick and choose the in-between frames Edit: As I usually forget many of the changes I have done, always consider every sheet as "the latest" !

The new "transitioning" between directions makes a lot of difference for the better ! the downside is it introduces a delay that can prove fatal.. I'm gonna work on some in-between frames to make it smoother ! . . Idea for an additional objective -> maybe there are stranded astronauts on the various planets that you can rescue ?!?

4 direction animation is looking great, stripe coloring is challenging but you have made some great choices (a grey gradient is missing) ! I see you are using one of the idle frames for the "crashed by boulder" sequence, I may have to tweak this a bit.. I still get random glimpses of the "impatient" frame mixed in the action, I think you are using it for something that is not suitable, let me know if you need some additional frames !

I love reading about this stuff, even though 90% goes over my head (reminds me of the ZZAP64 diaries of a game). . Animation is looking better now, still animating very fast though, I think you can dial it down more ! The "face forward" frame looks great when standing ! and the digging look more dynamic. I hope you can include all 4 directions eventually. I still get random glimpses of the "impatient" frame mixed in the action.. . I like the idea of color on the character, maybe I'll give it a shot later on.. Another idea is to allow the astronaut guy to dig down too and not only left and right !? . The gameplay is hectic, many things to keep track of, great fun !

Looking better already, but due to the block movement the run animation kind of disappears. If you don't intend to incorporate the up and down run, at least when he is stationary you should display the front facing standing frame, all idle animations begin with this anyway.

I think the reason for this is the looks. Boulder Dash has a very distinct style that makes it instantly recognizable.. at least in my eyes. So by tweaking the looks, you are taking steps in the right direction !

Here is what I have so far, more to come !

Cool ! yes, of course I'll send you sprite sets for everything !

Check out some "idle" animations, they need speed adjusting but here you go, in the 1st one he is checking his watch 😄. Of course you can mix them together for a longer sequence ! You can also see a rough "push" animation (still needs work). EDIT: Can you explain what "SNATCH DOWN" means ?

Rounded corners are looking great ! . Astronaut guy is moving along nicely, I revert him back to 27 pixels height, to have a couple of pixels left for the taller frames ! So (apart from the death sequence) what else is needed ? Maybe a little stay still (impatient) animation ?

I have started shrinking them to 24, but great news nevertheless !

Got it !

Thank you, so 16x24 square pixels then ? even better ! I'll see what I can come up with..

As an artist myself I find the overall composition and color palette choices amazing.. In any case I don't care about this enough to debate it 😉 . . On topic, @Andrew Davie if you are open to suggestions, I think it would be cool to have an actual astronaut for a hero !? I'm not really familiar with 2600 limitations, but I came up with this little guy at 8x27, coloring him up in layers will be challenging, but anyway ! If there is interest I can animate the rest of the directions.

wow.. this AI stuff is getting seriously good !!

Thanks Matt, I don't care so much for the award, but it's always a thrill to see a project you worked on, get some love ! Congratulations Paul, I can't wait for the next big thing 🤘

Hey, we won in this weird category 🥳 hopefully 2023 will be the release year !! Atari 8-Bit/5200 Best WIP WINNER: L'Abbeye des Morts (Port | A8)

Hey @Eagle, That's a very promising demo !! The set of Bomb Jack sprites are from an old attempt to hack/replace the ugly C64 sprites for the A8 port. I'm sure we can do MUCH better for the 7800 when time comes 😉

I wonder if I can help draw a new "Atari specific" Trumble ?! Let me know if you need a hand.

I'd love to work on a Pitfall "redux" ! a couple of years back while hacking the A8 version, I came up with this new Harry sprite, unfortunately I couldn't use it due to technical constraints.. So that's a start I guess 😉